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BRD - Groupe Société Générale

Job title: Dragos Mamulea, Head of Internal Audit

Organisation: BRD - Groupe Société Générale

Sector/business area: Financial Services/ Banking

Size in country: Second largest bank on Romanian market.

Organisation details: BRD - Groupe Société Générale is the second Romanian bank in terms of assets and market share and the fourth largest company by market capitalization at the Bucharest Stock Exchange. BRD is part of Société Générale, one of the biggest banking groups in the Euro zone. The bank has approximately 2,300,000 customers, its activities being oriented on three core businesses: retail and SME's, large corporations and investment banking.

'There has never been a better time to turn the spotlight on the internal audit profession,' says Dragos Mamulea, Head of Internal Audit of BRD. 'As a true partner of the business, we have a conservative perspective and are able to play our role in providing assurance on the adequacy of operations, as well as highlighting the necessary enhancements. To do this we require high calibre professionals: well-trained auditors with a strong sense of objectivity and strong ethical values.'

His view reflects the financial sector's focus change of focus from the increase of market share towards the application of more conservative principles such as cost-efficient operations, increased risk awareness and attention to mitigation factors, as well as implementing plans to properly respond to increased demands from regulators or stakeholders.

With over 30% of his audit team studying towards, or already holding, the ACCA Qualification, Dragos is clear about how this benefits BRD: 'Encouraging our staff to gain the ACCA Qualification gives us an opportunity to grow our people - not only by providing deep knowledge on accounting and finance, but also by stretching their perspective beyond, to a better understanding of the business processes and improved ability to detect and evaluate associated risks.'

'ACCA students and members also naturally develop proficiency in planning and organisation, attention to detail, a fact based approach, synthetic conclusions and time management. Altogether, a set of must-have skills for our profession,' he states.

As an organisation with a strong focus on talent management, BRD recognises the benefits of having highly qualified employees. 'In these difficult times, investing in our people definitely pays off,' concludes Dragos.